The Great Awakening

December 10, 2007
First, the good news: according to Wallis, founder of Sojourners and author of the bestseller God’s Politics
, the era of the religious right is over, and a new crop of under-30 progressives may well be taking American religion—and American politics—by storm. The bad news: people of faith need to get to work to further this grassroots support for social justice. Wallis draws on lively stories from his speaking engagements and world travels to discuss how the silent majority of religious Americans who don’t feel represented by the religious right’s agenda can first take comfort in their sheer numbers and then take action in their communities to fight poverty, clean up the environment and eradicate disease. The book is as passionate, engaging and emotionally moving as readers have come to expect from Wallis, who comes across as a Rauschenbuschian teddy bear, alternately stumping for justice and proclaiming God’s love. As a cohesive book, however, this has a rough and clunky sensibility, with considerable repetition of ideas, examples and even phrasing. It has the feel of discrete essays and speeches that have been knocked together and too lightly edited. Still, fans of God’s Politics
who are eager to learn of the next step will find compelling ideas and stories.

March 31, 2008
Recognizing that America's faithful have subverted their evangelical Christian ideology into a conservative political ideology, Wallis reminds readers that to follow the spirit of Christianity truly does mean to go beyond the simple two-party system and understand the greater principles of the faith. Wallis assesses the wide range of movements and new ideas emerging from Christians and what this new reckoning within their hearts and minds means for the political realm. With tools and goals that help listeners achieve spirituality over ideology, Wallis reveals the “common ground” upon which faith in America can be rebuilt and opened to a larger group of discontented believers. At a slow, deliberate pace, Wallis narrates with an elderly but genuinely sincere voice. A few voice shifts hint at poor sound editing, but the clarity and crisp voice of Wallis still shines through. However, his tone can be a bit droll, and it seems to move forward with almost languid reluctance. He performs a few vocal impersonations quite well, but often in doing so, only reinforces his overall weak performance in the straight narration. Simultaneous release with the HarperOne hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 10, 2007).